2023 brought the agriculture industry closer to the brink of transformational change as farming plays a growing role in global climate ambitions.

With major food companies looking to make significant progress on sustainability goals, farmers are just beginning to shift away from traditional production practices. To support the transition, companies and federal agencies are working to scale new innovations and provide more funding for farmers to accelerate regenerative agriculture.

So far, there's been some real signs of progress. For the first time, food and agriculture was discussed at a U.N. climate summit. Major food companies finally agreed upon a definition for regenerative agriculture. And there's more demand than funding for USDA's flagship program helping farmers reduce their climate impact.

Despite some advancements, economic woes threatened to slow adoption of climate-smart agriculture. Farm focused startups declared bankruptcy as venture funding dried up, and climate emerged as a large point of contention in farm bill negotiations with an extension pushing the debate into 2023.

As the year comes to a close, take a look at some of the stories that defined the agriculture industry this year.